Tack.



I No. 64L07l. Patented lan. 9, I900.

B. A. BREUL.

TACK.

(Application filed Mar. 4, 1899.)

(No Model.)

Wiinesses: @f.

66560 2 ways.

YATES i NIIF RICHARD A." BREUL, OF BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT.

TACK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 641,071, dated January 9, 1900.

Application filed March 4, 1899. Serial No. 707,775. (No model.)

To ctZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, RICHARD A. BREUL, a citizen of the Unit-ed States, and a resident of Bridgeport, in the county of Fairfield and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Tacks, of which the following is a specification.

This invention is an improvement in carpet-tacks, and relates more especially to that class of tacks which are formed from steel wire, the object of the said invention being to provide a tack of this character that shall have a flat head well strengthened and braced in connection with the shank and in which the shank and point are so shaped that the tack will readily enter an object and may be withdrawn without injury.

It is well known that so-called fiat-head tacks have been made from wire on a very limited scale, and those produced have heads of much smaller diameter than tacks made from sheet metal and are therefore not as desirable for general use.

It has been difficult to provide a serviceable fiat-head tack from wire owing to thenature of the material best adapted and used for the purpose-win, decarbonized steel wire, which hardens quickly under a flattening or heading process, thereby opposing the formation of a wide head and exhibiting a structural weakness at the juncture of the hardened head with the comparatively soft shank. Therefore it has been experienced in practice that a wire tack with a well-defined fiat head of the proper size as heretofore constructed is not serviceable, as the head readily breaks off either in driving the tack or attempting to withdraw it, owing to the practical joint or weakness between the head and shank.

Appreciating the many advantages that would result from the production of a steelwire tack having the desirable flat head, I have devised a peculiar-shaped tack that will overcome the structural weakness between the head and shank and will also present a point or entering portion that will facilitate the operation of driving the tack and also make it easier to withdraw the same.

In the following specification I have entered into a detail description of my invention, refnovel is more specifically set forth in the ap pended claims.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part hereof, and in which the views are all on an enlarged scale, Figure l is a side elevation of a tack constructed in accordance with my invention looking at one of the cutting edges of the point. Fig. 2 is a similar view looking at one of the sides of the point. Fig. 3 is an inverted plan view looking at the point and under side of the head. Fig. at is a transverse sectional view on the line 4 4: of Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a similar view on the line 5 5 of Fig. 1. Fig. 6 is a side elevation showing a modification of the point or entering portion of the tack.

In carrying out my invention the tack is preferably made of steel wire by the use of dies, the shank a being given a rectangular formation, while a part of the metal is stamped or flattened out to present a head a of a width usual in the ordinary sheet-metal tacks, and the said head strengthened, in connection with the shank, by ribs 19, extending along the under side of the head from the shank to the outer edge of the head, said ribs being in addition to the usual die-fins 0. These bracing-ribs taper from the shank and are of the desired thickness to reinforce the, head and serve to overcome a structural weakness that would otherwise be formed at the juncture of the head with the shank. The dies are shaped to form the ribs b, which extend diametrically across the under side of the head and at right angles to the die-fins, the said ribs commencing, preferably, at the corners of the rectangular shank.

In forming the point of the tack the end portion is flattened to present opposite cutandsaid cutting edges converging abruptly at the lower end to form. the point proper,

(designated by the letter 6.) The point e is tack than one of the ordinary shape or conbent in the direction of the cutting edges (1, as shown, retaining the symmetry of the other portion of the point or entering portion of the tack. It will be noted, therefore, that the shank and entering portion or point of the tack present smooth surfaces throughout, terminating in a sharp spear shaped point. These features of the tack, in connect-ion with the bracing-ribs for the flat head, produce an improved article that can be cheaply manufactured and possesses decided advantages over an ordinary tack, for it is obvious that the tack can be readily driven into an object and may be withdrawn without injuring the same. In forming the tack pressure is applied at all sides, tending to harden both the shank and point, While the head is thoroughly reinforced or braced.

By bracing the head in the manner set forth it will make it possible to provide an exceedingly-wide head having not only an even resistance against a side blow or pressure, but also obviates an initial rupture at its base, being sound and rigidly connected to the shank. V

Though Ihave shown the entering portion or point of the tack diamond-shaped in crosssection, it is apparent that the comparatively flat sides could be rounded, as shown in the modification, Fig. 6 of the drawings. In this modification the head is also braced by ribs f, while the shank g is rectangular and the point has opposite cutting edges h h, connected by outwardly-curved sides 2', the end being bent or extended to one side, as shown in the other figures of the drawings. It is also 0bvious that instead of forming the improved tack of steel wire the improvements hereinbefore described could be applied as Well to a tack formed from sheet metal, producing in each instance a stronger and more durable figuration.

The bracing-ribs are shown and described as extending from opposite edges of the rectangular shank, this being the preferable form of construction; but in practice it may be found desirable to extend the ribs from the flat sides of the said shank.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. As an improved article of manufacture, a tack having a fiat tapering end portion or point shaped by a continuation of the rectangular shank slightly bent at the terminus or point proper, presenting two cutting edges and sides inclined in opposite directions from the center, substantially as shown and described.

2. A tack having a shank rectangular in cross-section and a point diamond-shaped and flattened gradually toward the end, presenting four smooth faces those of the point proper being symmetrically tapered and bent as they define the sharp end.

3. As an improved article of manufacture a tack having bracing-ribs on the under side of its head, extending outwardly from the shank and at right angles to the die-web, said ribs being formed integral with the head and shank, a rectangular shank and flattened point terminating in a bent end, presenting four smooth faces through the length of the shank and point, the latter being diamondshaped gradually flattened and symmetrical, substantially as shown and described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in the presence of two Witnesses.

RICHARD A. BREUL.

Witnesses:

ALVIN O. BREUL, FRED. G. BREUL. 

